ESPN's Dick Vitale diagnosed with cancer for a 3rd time

Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale says he has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.

Vitale tweeted Wednesday that he had surgery in Boston this week, and tests revealed that he has vocal cord cancer. He said he will undergo six weeks of radiation treatments.

“I plan to fight like hell to be ready to call games when the college hoops season kicks off in the fall,” Vitale tweeted, adding that his doctor “feels that scenario is entirely possible.”

The 84-year-old Vitale has previously been treated for melanoma and lymphoma. He celebrated being cancer-free in April of last year.

Vitale has been with ESPN since 1979, the year the network launched. He called ESPN’s first college basketball broadcast. He's also a longtime fundraiser for cancer research.

Vitale helped friend Jim Valvano to the stage at the 1993 ESPYs, where Valvano delivered his famous “Don’t give up” speech. Valvano died of adenocarcinoma less than two months later.

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